Is It Overkill?

October 13, 2010
Some have criticized "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy for making his cast perform so many Streisand numbers. Clearly, Murphy is a fan; so much a fan, in fact, that he even thanked Barbra when his show won the Best Comedy Golden Globe earlier this year. So, is "Glee" overdoing it a bit?

To date, "Glee" has covered Barbra Streisand no less than five times. Each performance, backed up by original (and very familiar) arrangements was quite good . We first had Lea Michele's tour de force rendition of "Don't Rain On My Parade." Shortly thereafter, recurring guest star Idina Menzel gave us her spin on the "Funny Girl" film's title number. In another episode, Kristen Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison perfectly replicated Barbra's performance of "One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not A Home." And in the past two weeks,, we saw Lea Michele perform Yentl's "Papa, Can You Hear Me" and the iconic Barbra/Judy duet, "Happy Days/Get Happy" with cast member Chris Colfer.

So, what do we make of all this? Quite frankly, "Glee" is a prime time breath of fresh air. Let's not forget that the show is exposing millions of its fans to a variety of musical styles each week, not just Barbra's. Younger fans who might only be familiar narrow range of contemporary music are, in essence, getting a free lesson in music appreciation each week.

Just think about it. "Glee" offers side-by-side tributes to such artists as Lady Gaga and Tina Turner. Bruno Mars and Sinatra. U2 and The Beatles - not to mention the variety of show-tunes and film gems featured each week.

And who could have imagined the incredible amount of buzz that was generated when a performance of a Legrand/Bergman masterpiece was watched by millions of people in prime time.

So, we applaud Ryan Murphy and the "Glee" creators for affording so many people the opportunity to experience, perhaps for the first time, some of the best pop music of the past several generations. And exposing a new generation to the musical history of Barbra Streisand? Well, it's all good - no matter how often.